On March 30–31, the Demo Days of the #Clusters4Regions Cluster Management School took place — an accelerator-based training program for managers and coordinators engaged in building and developing clusters in Ukraine.
The program is delivered within the Clusters4Regions initiative, implemented by the Ukrainian Cluster Alliance at the request of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, with the support of the UCORD Project. It is designed to strengthen the capacity of cluster managers to systematically build and scale cluster initiatives.
The Cluster Management School is the first comprehensive program of its kind in Ukraine, developed by the Ukrainian Cluster Alliance with the support of the UCORD Project. The program combines hands-on experience from Ukrainian clusters with leading European best practices.
The Demo Days marked the culmination of an intensive eight-week program, during which participants advanced their cluster projects with the support of mentors and industry experts.
Key Program Outcomes:
- 83 participants from 12 regions of Ukraine registered for the program;
- 40 participants successfully completed the program;
- 16 participants (representing 14 clusters) developed fully-fledged operational models and presented them during the Demo Days;
- 8 weeks of training, including 32 hours of sessions, complemented by additional mentorship support.
The Demo Days featured cluster models from a wide range of sectors and regions. Participants from the Sumy region presented an energy engineering cluster and an industrial hemp cluster. Representatives from Vinnytsia introduced a rehabilitation and medical technologies cluster, as well as a tourism eco-cluster. From Khmelnytskyi, a greenhouse agriculture cluster was showcased. Participants from the Ternopil region presented defense and agro-energy clusters. Meanwhile, representatives from Odesa introduced a reconstruction and recovery cluster, along with a tourism and recreation cluster.
Importantly, throughout the program participants not only acquired theoretical knowledge, but also worked on practical solutions — from building partnerships and defining stakeholder roles to developing financing and growth models. The next phase will focus on mentorship-driven support for the implementation of the developed models, which will continue over the next quarter.
Among the program’s outcomes is the development of methodological resources, including the “Cluster Model” playbook and a compendium of best practices, which will serve as a foundation for the further advancement of cluster policy in Ukraine.
The Playbook can be downloaded via the link.
Clusters4Regions demonstrates that the cluster approach can serve as an effective instrument for economic recovery and long-term regional development — by bringing together business, government, and the expert community around shared objectives.
The UCORD Project is implemented with the support of Switzerland by NIRAS Sweden AB.